If you read my previous blog, then you know about that Da Vinci Code cryptex I won. Well, those things are selling for a lot on eBay. The first one is at over $200 as I'm typing this, and it still has over 11 hours to go. I just put mine up (with the added benefit of free shipping and insurance) and the bidding jumped to $20 in under 20 minutes. It's a 24-hour auction, so if for some reason you are interested in this collectible, go check out the eBay page I posted for it. Shipping and insurance won't cost me too much, so I'm expecting to make at least $50 off of this thing after the initial hype dies down. Hopefully I'll make more, considering I put the auction up for only 24 hours to take advantage of the hype. I sure would like to see it go up over $200 like that first one. I could always use a few hundred bucks in my pocket.

The hardest semester of school I've ever had finally finished. I could have studied more for a few of the tests, but overall I can't complain. One C, two B's, and two A's (a 3.2 GPA) is a little lower than what I've been used to these past several semesters, but I can live with it. I took what are regarded as the three toughest Mass Comm courses (Media Law, Media Critical Theory, and Media Ethics) in one semester. From what I understand, these three courses are a major reason why the SIUE Mass Communications department is officially accredited. All the professors and most students recommended I not take any two of these courses in one semester, much less all three. I did, and I passed. Plus I had Electronic Media Advertising and Advanced Broadcast Writing, both of which had a lot of work.

Three courses remaining and my internship/portfolio. I'm knocking out all three courses this summer: Contemporary Biology (BIO 111), Concepts of Computers (CS 111), and Media Management (MC 402). BIO 111 fills my final general education requirement of an introductory natural science/math course. I thought my gen-eds were done, until I got a surprise after I filed my graduation application. Good thing I filed early.

CS 111 will just be easy, considering it's nothing but the most basic of introductions to things like hardware, software, networking, etc. I had everything this course offers plus C++ programming in CS 140 four years ago. I'm taking it because I couldn't get into a walking or jogging class.

My last class for the summer, MC 402, is the last Mass Comm course I have to take. I've never had the professor before, so hopefully he'll make the class fun and/or easy. I hear this course is easy enough, so I'm looking forward to an easy semester of classes all around.

My internship/portfolio, which I'll do in the fall, is the final obstacle to my Bachelor of Science degree. I'm hoping to get a production internship with Emmis Communications (KSHE, K-HITS, The Point, and others), but that remains to be seen. I hear a lot of their interns do nothing but hand out fliers and gift certificates and other crap, so if I can't land a production internship with them I'll look elsewhere. I'd like to get some type of real-world experience with my internship. Other options are KDHX, Y98, and a few local AM stations, but I'd prefer the production internship with Emmis. Any Bonneville stations, like WIL and The River are out because apparently their lawyers require SIUE to sign a legal document regarding internships that SIUE's lawyers will not allow anybody to sign. That kind of sucks, but if I want credit for my internship I have to play by the rules.

I'll graduate in December and, by the way things are going, that will be here before I know it. I've already started a resume on Monster.com. It may be a bit early, but I felt like getting it out of the way. My classes this semester will be easy, so I only see them as a formality. My only real goal left, before entering the real world, is to secure my internship and do an excellent job at it. After that I'll have to step up to the plate and get a real job, saying goodbye to Leroy's once and for all.

I've been going to school for the past 20 years. I'm used to being attached to a backpack nine months out of the year. I'm used to small desks, #2 pencils, and crowded hallways. School is all I've ever known. While I've held part-time jobs, their still just part-time. I've never had to work full-time. And that is what I'll be doing, for the many years to come. Luckily, I've chosen a field that I actually want to be a part of. It's a good thing I didn't listen to my mother and become a computer programmer. Some people are made for that type of work, just not me. If I had that to look forward to every day for an entire career I'd either be the world's most unpleasant person or in a mental health facility for going crazy.

Getting a job, moving out, and being happy. These are the goals I've set for myself right now. The first two will disappear and change, but that last one is a constant. That one is more important than anything else.

I had a dream last night. Stevie Ray Vaughan, without a guitar, was traveling the land, going from town to town, removing his hat and pulling hamburgers from it. He would then give these hamburgers to the people. Although they were just plain hamburgers with nothing more than a bun and a patty, the people were so happy to receive the hamburgers from Stevie Ray Vaughan's magical hamburger hat.